Police offer tips for students to stay safe

Fearing the first day of college is normal – new friends, settings and a new environment. So whether students should walk behind a dorm instead of on a main road is probably the last question on their minds.

But students need to be attentive at all times in order to avoid assaults on campus, said IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger.

Safety on campus
At IU, being safe involves more than just calling the police department.

In order to make campus a safer place at night, IU transportation created a service, IU Safety Escort, 15 years ago to ensure students were safe on campus at night.

The student-run organization operates at night during the school year from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 7 p.m. until midnight Friday and Saturday, said Ben Blohm, director of the program. There’s usually about a 15-minute wait time.

Blohm said students should utilize the service to protect themselves on campus.

“A lot of people consider IU a safe place,” he said. “However, there are incidents of violence on campus. Using the service, these situations can be avoided.”

But to make sure the program isn’t being abused, there are rules. Blohm said only IU students and staff members are allowed to use the service and students can only go to and from campus or around campus. They cannot go from apartment to apartment, for example. There can only be two students using the service at one time and the students cannot be drunk.

Despite the restrictions, Blohm said about 11,000 students a year use the service.

But, Minger said, students may not always be able to wait after calling the safety escort service if they are in trouble.

Minger said there are a variety of ways to contact IUPD in case of an emergency.

One of the most visible ways on campus is to use an emergency blue light. With about 23 of the lights on campus, students can hit the emergency button, which will directly contact IUPD, Minger said.

Minger also said there are telephones in the entrances to every dorm that are capable of dialing 911. Minger said the best way to get attention is to call in.

In addition to these ways to contact IUPD, Minger said there are always officers patrolling campus.

“The biggest thing we have is our officers,” he said.

Minger explained that there are as many as 40 part-time police officers who are students that work or live in the dorms and address issues. Minger said those part-time officers are a very big part of getting the message out.

Safety tips
Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Jeff Canada said students need to be aware of their surroundings at all times. Talking about parties, Canada said students need to make themselves safe by not putting themselves in a predicament that could lead to harm.

Canada said when reports are taken at the police station, a lot of situations deal with alcohol consumption.

Another suggestion, Canada said, was to take the Rape Aggression Defense class through BPD or IUPD. The RAD classes are a way for women to learn how to protect themselves if a predator were to attack.

Canada also suggested to always lock your doors as night, as a lot of times items are stolen from places where doors and windows are left unlocked.

To ensure safety, Minger said students need to make informed decisions and to make sure they don’t put themselves into a situation that will draw attention to themselves.

“They need to be aware of their surroundings and realize that crime can occur in an academic environment,” he said.